PERRYSBURG — The wheels are turning to find a new transit service in the city.
Council’s Health, Sanitation and Public Utilities Committee met Friday in a special meeting to go over
proposals received for the service, which will supplant TARTA. Any new public transport in the city is
expected to begin as early as Jan. 1.
In all, six proposals were received, some running into the hundreds of pages.
The six bidding companies included TLC Transportation, Toledo; Ride Right LLC, Cincinnati; Mobile Care
EMS and Transport, Sylvania; MV Transportation Inc., Dallas, Texas; LeFleur Transportation, Tupelo,
Miss.; and Black and White Transportation, Toledo.
Both TLC and Mobile Care were initially eliminated after it was decided that, while the two did present
good proposals, their offerings and pricing were not as competitive as the remaining four.
Of those four, two standouts — MV and Black and White — emerged in the discussion. Much of the attention
centered around MV, a well-regarded national firm operating for 35 years in more than 130 locations in
North America, including 28 states and two Canadian provinces.
Both HSPU Chair Todd Grayson and Deputy Finance Director Tim Fisher noted that the references they spoke
with regarding MV were excellent; however, one issue emerged was cost. While a number of clients found
MV’s service to be exceptional, they sometimes dropped MV at the end of their contract periods due to
pricing.
At costs of approximately $50 to $54 per hour, MV is on the pricier end of its competitors, who averaged
in the $40 per hour range.
Black and White’s pricing is between $43 and $50 per hour, depending on the service provided. The city
hopes to keep costs down to approximately $700,000 a year for a new transit service, operating about 90
hours per week.
It was noted at the meeting that a decision did not have to be made quickly regarding which service was
to be chosen. Of greater import was determining the amount of a proposed levy on the November ballot to
pay for the service.
A meeting on Tuesday is scheduled to further discuss the levy issue so that the matter can be voted on by
council and sent to the Board of Elections prior to the Aug. 8 deadline.